Victorian People-Watching at the Beach

Today, our time machine is going for a pit-stop on a sunny, Victorian Era beach in Atlantic City, where the ponies are aplenty, and the bathing costumes make the women look like layer cakes. Sure, contemporary eyes may see a bunch of prudes, but for folks in the 1800s, showing off your bloomers at the beach was quite a statement, especially in the throes of Women’s Suffrage. So pick up your parasol for some antiquated people watching…

Ladies and gents, feast your eyes on this victorian lifeguard, who is probably the only man with a tan on the entire for miles:

If you think their bathing habits look extreme here, just imagine what it was like for some of the very first, brave recreational bathers of the early 1800s, who had to arrive on the shore like cattle in a contraption called, “the bathing machine“:

The idea was to avoid being seen on dry land in their risqué swimming costumes. By the mid-1800s, however, women were finally beginning to wear shorter bathing costumes with bloomers. So while there aren’t any fully-fledged bloomers on display at this beach, you can see hints of the garment in the some of the ladies’ dresses. Perhaps that’s what makes these photographs so hypnotic: they become a study in stark social contrasts, of the transition from one century into the next…

This Victorian and Edwardian eras were also some history’s most fanciful periods, and beach-side structures were no exception to the more-is-more philosophy. San Francisco boasted the Sutro Bath House (now in ruins, but still accessible to the curious beach-goer), while on the East Coast, there were places like Brady’s Baths:

Then there are some of the more sparse arial shots, where beach goers in all-black pepper the sand, looking like a Seurat painting come to life….

Kudos to the photographer who got everyone to gather for this gem, though. It’s one of those lost photos that makes you nostalgic for a memory that’s not even yours…

Which is exactly where vintage shopping comes in handy. If you’re keen on wearing some Victorian and Edwardian-inspired looks to the beach this summer, there are plenty of fantastic antique vendors to follow around the net starting with Etsy but also sellers on instagram such as Strange Desires.